Moonstruck
by Jara
Summary: A lunar eclipse on a different planet (S/J UST)


Moonstruck  
  
by Jara Dax

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. I'm just borrowing.   
  
Rating: PG  
Classification: SJ friendship/UST  
Summary: A lunar eclipse on a different planet.  
A/N: This fic is a response to nhawk78's challenge to write lunar eclipse. It was supposed to be set at Jack's cabin but I placed them off-world. It took a while to finish, but here it is. Especially for you, my munchkin!   
  
Huge big thanks to chiroho, splash_the_cat and nhawk78 for the beta and feedback. You guys rock!   
  
Feedback always puts a smile on my face.   
  
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There's always been something alluring about sleep. The way your mind shuts down and drifts off into darkness, forgetting just for moment what it is like outside the confines of your bed. At least that's how Jack O'Neill remembers what it's like to truly sleep. Problem was, it felt like he hadn't been in a normal bed for ages. Sure there were the beds on base, but they weren't exactly the real thing. His seemed to dip right where his hip rested, which forced him to sleep in some weird positions - none of which were kind on his knees. So when he wasn't avoiding the pit in his bed, he was off world. Obviously, being on another planet meant they had to be cautious, so over the years he had learned to sleep while listening to everything that was going on around him. And that was exactly his problem...   
  
Carter was humming again - a habit he actually found quite endearing. Right now, however, it was keeping him awake. The soft hums penetrated his mind and his thoughts clung to the melody. Keeping his eyes closed, he softly rolled onto his side, his face towards the fire where he knew Sam was sitting. The gentle tones seemed both soothing and sad. He didn't know the song, he didn't know a lot of the music Carter listened to, but he knew he liked this one. There was something comforting about laying only a couple of feet away from her, knowing she was watching over him.   
  
Jack groaned at the sappy turn his mind had taken. He wanted to roll over and turn his back to Carter, when he suddenly realised she had stopped her humming. Very carefully and slowly, he opened one eye to find she was looking right at him. Not really knowing what else to do, he closed his eye again.   
  
"Sorry, sir." Came the soft whisper from Sam.   
  
He opened his one eye again. "Sorry?"   
  
"If I've woken you up." She elaborated, even though the tone in her voice suggested that she had no idea whatsoever what she could have done to keep him from sleeping.   
  
Jack closed his eye again, and grinned to himself he rolled unto his back, finding it even more adorable that she wasn't aware of her humming habit.   
  
"What are you smiling at?" He could almost hear her frowning.   
  
"Nothing," he couldn't resist the smirk.   
  
She had to know there was something but didn't get into it, all too aware of the dangerous ground it could lead them onto.   
  
A soft sigh escaped his lips as he opened his eyes again. He immediately got the feeling that something was different, but he couldn't really put his finger on what that might be.   
  
"There's a lunar eclipse," Carter clarified, even though he hadn't asked anything. At the same time as her explanation came, he realised that it was darker.   
  
"Cool!" He blurted out and sat up - the idea of seeing an eclipse on another world actually getting him excited.   
  
Carter was looking at him with her eyebrows raised. "Cool?" She smirked.   
  
Jack realised his mistake and cleared his throat, his face becoming serious again. "Yeah, I guess it's cool for you... scientists." He explained, waving his hand in the air.   
  
She was too far away, on the other side of the campfire, for him to see that she was rolling her eyes, but he didn't doubt the action was taking place. He scrambled up out of his sleeping bag, the movements not as graceful as he would have liked as his boots got stuck in it. A stifled laugh came from across the crackles of the fire.   
  
"Not funny, Carter." He sent her a death glare, while desperately attempting to disentangle his boot without falling flat on his face.   
  
"Sorry, sir." She snickered, not sounding sorry at all.   
  
After what seemed like an everlasting struggle, Jack finally managed to extricate himself from the evil jaws of his sleeping bag. With as much dignity as he could muster, grateful for the darkness that hid his burning cheeks, he turned towards his second-in-command. He swallowed as he watched the light from the campfire play across her gentle features. An amused smile curved her lips, making the sight even more delicious as her twinkling eyes met his.   
  
It took a lot of strength for him to tear his eyes from her and onto the dancing flames. "So, a lunar eclipse?" He asked her as he realised he hadn't even looked up at the sky once since waking up.   
  
He saw her nod in the corner of his eye. "Yeah, I think it might be a total eclipse, but I can't be sure without any further study."   
  
Jack snickered, and finally turned his eyes up towards the sky. The stars were brighter than he had ever seen them before, but it was the moon that caught his attention. It wasn't exactly the earth's moon, nothing ever really was, but it came pretty close. That was if you dismissed the fact that this moon was more an icy blue instead of silver, so it bathed everything in an eerie, but at the same time magical, light. The shadow of the planet had already swallowed part of the smooth surface of her moon, so the rays it emitted were no longer pure blue but violet.   
  
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He heard Sam ask, and he smiled at the awe in her voice.   
  
"Yeah, it is." He looked down and grinned as he got an idea. "Do we have the telescope in the MALP?"   
  
She nodded. "Yeah, it's always in there."   
  
"Come on, give me a hand." He started walking to the MALP that was standing at the edge of the forest where they had set up camp. It was a peaceful world, no apparent signs of civilisation. He had the vague suspicion Hammond was trying to take it easy on his flagship team, but Jack wasn't complaining. They probably could use it.   
  
As he opened the container, he noticed Carter was standing next to him. Wordlessly he handed her the tripod, then he carefully took out the lens. Not that he didn't trust her with the lens, Carter was always careful with her own doohickeys, it was just a habit of his that started when he used to stargaze with Charlie.   
  
"Where do you want to set it up?" Carter interrupted, and he was grateful she didn't let his mind stray to the past.   
  
"A bit further down hill? So that we're away from the campfire." He answered, and they both started down the gentle slope.   
  
Everything around them was covered in a strange hue from the eclipse. Jack decided that this moon probably gave more light than the earth's. He turned towards Sam to ask her if she agreed with his theory, but the question never left his mouth as he watched her. She was staring up at the sky, her eyes fixed on the moon as if she were mesmerised. The warm glow made her even more beautiful than she already was. He couldn't see the blue in her eyes, but they were alight, sparkling with an enthusiasm that was typically "Carter".   
  
He must have stared at her too long, because she stopped and turned towards him. An amused smile played on her face. "What?" She asked playfully, her eyes twinkling with an openness he rarely allowed himself to notice.   
  
"I think we should set it up here." The practical, more down-to-earth part of him replied, saving the embarrassment of being caught in a less than professional ogle-your-second-in-command moment.   
  
"Okay then." She right away started setting up the tripod, showing nothing at all that might betray that she was aware of him watching her.   
  
He mentally kicked himself when she straightened up again, and realised his eyes had been resting on a particular part of his Major's anatomy.   
  
"Sir, are you alright?" She asked in concern, her head slightly tilted. He quickly looked down at the box in his hand.   
  
"Fine, Carter." He answered, berating himself.   
  
She must have noticed his awkwardness because next thing he knew, Carter was using the O'Neill way to lighten up the atmosphere.   
  
"You sure you can get that together before the eclipse is over?" She teased.   
  
He grinned and looked up at her. "Don't you worry about that, Carter." His male pride kicked in, and he put the box down.   
  
"Want me to give you a hand?" She offered, implying that he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. Oh, he knew she was playing with him, and that it was working.   
  
"Thanks, but no, Major. I got this." He didn't have to turn around to know she was wearing a smug grin. Not that he minded, he enjoyed this easy banter. That and he would show her just how helpless he was.   
  
His hands quickly went to work, putting together the familiar piece of technology. He could feel Carter watching him, knowing the smile was fading from her face by now.   
  
"I get the impression you have done this before." She remarked, and the rushing of her clothes suggested she had sat down in the grass behind him.   
  
"I might have." He answered absent mindedly as he made sure the lens was secure.   
  
"Might have?" Oh yeah, the mock had returned in her voice. Jack turned around to see her grinning at him knowingly. He frowned, and wondered if she had seen him with the telescope during one of his more boring watches.   
  
"I might have." He repeated and turned his attention back to the telescope, trying to get it locked on the moon. He heard her snicker behind his back and looked back at her.   
  
Sam was obviously fighting to keep from laughing out loud as she bit her lower lip. The action, combined with her sparkling eyes, just made him want to stand up and kiss her soundly. Instead, he arched an eyebrow.   
  
She smirked.   
  
"Carter?" He insisted.   
  
"You're more of a geek than you realise, Sir."   
  
"Why you little..." Jack whispered under his breath. Oh, that did it! He glared at her, well tried to, because she just looked too damn cute, and when was he going to stop thinking like that? "You're gonna pay for that, Carter!" He warned her, pointing a menacing finger in her direction.   
  
She raised her eyebrows defiantly. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do?" She challenged.   
  
He had no idea what to answer to that. So he quickly had to come up with something. "You'll see."   
  
"Sure..." Sam answered, not sounding convinced at all.   
  
"You're getting close to insubordination there, Carter." He warned her playfully, but the extent of his words hit him too late. Finally, they had managed to just forget who they were for a minute, and then he had to go point that out. He sighed as he saw the smile fade from her face and she looked down at her hands.   
  
Berating himself for killing the mood, he turned back to the telescope and adjusted it until he had the moon centred in the lens. He smiled at how beautiful it was, the awkwardness soon forgotten as he motioned for her to come closer.   
  
"Take a look at this." He wasn't all too sure why he was whispering, it wasn't like he was going to scare the moon away.   
  
He heard Sam get up, and when she was standing next to him, he straightened up, their shoulders brushing. "Go on," he couldn't suppress the grin, knowing she would love it.   
  
Wordlessly she bent over the telescope and looked at the eclipse. "Wow, that's amazing." She cried out enthusiastically.   
  
"Yeah, it is. Isn't it?" Jack grinned but didn't look up at the moon. Instead, he found himself staring once more at his 2IC.   
  
"Uh huh," was the reply he got. She was so completely engrossed in the sight before her, that he doubted she would register anything he told her right now. Not that he was complaining - he enjoyed these moments where he could just watch her without the danger of getting caught.   
  
"Shouldn't you be watching the sky, Sir?" Carter's voice pulled him out of his reverie, even though she hadn't even turned around to watch him. Damn, how the hell could she have known?   
  
"What do you mean?" He asked innocently, proud of the way he managed to hide his surprise of getting caught.   
  
"I mean that..." She finally turned towards him and their eyes met. "The eclipse is up there, in the sky. Not on the back of my head."   
  
"I wasn't watching the back of your head." Jack blurted out. He really wasn't watching that back...!   
  
"Sure, sir." She rolled her eyes, and devoted her attention once more to the telescope.   
  
"I remember my first lunar eclipse." He saw Sam tense at his words. He never was the type to go talk about his past, but right now, he wanted to keep talking to her. It seemed important to keep her from drawing back into silence, and shutting herself off again.   
  
Sam didn't move or say anything, but he knew that her eyes were no longer focused on the moon. "I was seven. My father woke me up at 3am, and told me there was something I had to see. It was in the middle of the winter, had just snowed, and the lake had frozen over. He had set up the telescope on the dock." His eyes at strayed from his Major to his boots, the smile the memory had provoked safely concealed in the shadows.   
  
When he looked back up, he found Sam had turned towards him once more. Her back turned towards the miracle in the sky, so that all he could see was the soft glitter of her eyes. "Was that at the cabin?" She asked softly, not pressing him to continue.   
  
"Yeah, I inherited it." He grinned mischievously. "I still think you'd like it." The light had grown dimmer, and he looked back up at the moon.   
  
"It's nearly going through the Umbra." He told her, as only a crescent remained in the sky.   
  
Sam turned her attention back towards the moon, the telescope standing forgotten beside her.   
  
Jack swallowed. He had been so close, but now the moment seemed to have passed again. His mind tried to find a way to invite her without making it sound like it would mean something. Oh hell, who was he trying to kid?   
  
Tentatively, he took two steps forward and ended standing up beside Sam. Her eyes were still glued to the moon, making this a bit easier. "I could er... show you where my dad put up the telescope." How lame did that sound?   
  
Although it probably was coincidence, Jack decided to put it down to the magic that is Samantha Carter. At the same time as she turned her head towards him, the air around them changed. The violet light turned scarlet, adding a new warmth to Sam's face.   
  
"Maybe with the next lunar eclipse." Although her tone was light, something about the way she was looking at him suggested that her proposal was more than just putting it off.   
  
"November 9," he answered, their eyes met and stayed locked. They both seemed to try to calculate how serious the other was, and Jack decided he might as well take the first step. Slowly a soft smile curved his lips, trying to silently encourage her to agree.   
  
She returned it, at first hesitant, until finally he got that full smile that could make his knees feel even weaker than they were already, and make his heart skip a beat. "It's a date, Sir."   
  
Oh, his head was spinning, overanalysing the exact meaning of the word "date". He doubted his grin could get any broader.   
  
Carter shook her head, her eyes twinkling with something that he decided to name "fondness". She grinned, and turned her attention back to the eclipse.   
  
With a self indulgent grin of his own, Jack followed her example.   
  
"Sweet."   
  
THE END   
  



End file.
